Barbara Walters spoke with the celebrity party planner who walked out on the season finale of the Celebrity Apprentice on her Sirius radio show, Here’s Barbara.
Barbara and her co-host Bill Geddie spoke with David Tutera who went on the show to talk about the reason why he left so abruptly. And yes, the reason was Joan. Not only was she condescending towards him, she also had absolutely no direction with her final task and expected him to take control of the situation. Read on..
BARBARA WALTERS: You were supposed to do a beautiful room for Joan, and also a room for Annie Duke, right?
DAVID TUTERA: That’s correct. Yes
BARBARA WALTERS: OK. And then you quit, and people said, ‘How could he walk out?’ And Joan was furious. She was on television this morning. She said you didn’t have a hissy fit, you had a sissy fit. Twelve hours before they were supposed to show the rooms, you, David Tutera, walk out. Why?
DAVID TUTERA: Let me just start by saying that in twenty-three years of being in business, I have never left anyone, no matter how difficult they are to work with, in such a situation as that. Her behavior towards any human being was so unacceptable to me.
BARBARA WALTERS: Joan?
DAVID TUTERA: Joan Rivers.
BARBARA WALTERS: Really?
DAVID TUTERA: Such a monster I cannot begin to even explain.
BARBARA WALTERS: Wow.
DAVID TUTERA: The way it unfolded was, I was to go into the “War Room” and meet with Joan and her team, including her daughter, and get as much information from them that they needed to explain to me on how to execute a concept, the party….well, Joan and Melissa [Rivers] were completely incapable of giving me their insight on how the party should look. They had zero direction. The rules of the show were, that the producers said to us, that we cannot, me as the person executing the challenge, give the celebrities ideas.
BILL GEDDIE: Ah, that explains so much.
David Tutera on being manipulated by the producers during the “Celebrity Apprentice”:
BARBARA WALTERS: Do you think you were set up? By the producers?
DAVID TUTERA: Yes. I think I was manipulated by the producers. Not set up, but manipulated.
David Tutera on working with Joan Rivers on the “Celebrity Apprentice”:
BARBARA WALTERS: You feel, at that point, that those conversations, in which she complained and you said, OK, I quit, you feel that that all was a set up by the producers?
DAVID TUTERA: Manipulated…they got me there, they got me to do what they told me to do and then when I got into the room and they gave me no ideas, I was left to sort of stand there and defend myself.
BARBARA WALTERS: And do you think that Joan did it just cause it made for a good show? Or do you really think that she thought you were no good?
DAVID TUTERA: Absolutely. I think she did it because…she doesn’t know me. How does she know if I’m no good? She’s never seen an event that I’ve ever done. I think she did it because it made for better television.
David Tutera on working for Joan Rivers again:
BARBARA WALTERS: If she said to you, tomorrow, would you come to my house, I’m having a big party, would you do the party? What would you say?
DAVID TUTERA: Absolutely over my dead body.
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Hmm..the whole thing is just fishy. It was either fixed or Donald Trump simply chose Joan for reasons unknown – but not because she deserved it.
[Source: SIRIUS XM Radio PR]
Fishy!? How about 5 tons of sardines being dumped on your doorstep?
* Joan Rivers’ charity has Donald Trump’s ex-sister-in-law (Blaine Trump) on the Board or Directors (This is an obvious conflict of interest. This is should have been disclosed during the show.)
http://www.glwd.org/about_directors.html
* Mark Burnett, the producer of Celebrity Apprentice, is also the producer of the new show for Joan Rivers (Read the captions and all of the reality shows state that the producers are consulted in determining the results of the show)
http://www.screenhead.com/reviews/joan-rivers-stars-in-%E2%80%9Chow%E2%80%99d-you-get-so-rich%E2%80%9D/
Even the best fiction has to be believable!
i thought i caught site of something on QVC called “Joan Rivers Boardroom Collection” or something like that, literally the day after she won. it’s just business.
Joan Rivers deserved to win over Annie Duke. As for David Tutera, I was shocked at his behavior. I’ve watched him on TV and he has done fabulous things with people who had much less of an idea of what they wanted than Joan!!! COME ON, David!! Get over yourself!!!!
I’ve been defending David the last few days saying that he probably was supposed to walk out as part of the show to leave them on their own to see who could pull it off and that I’ve seen many of his shows and have never seen him get out of line with a client. From what I saw on TV, Joan wanted her usual people to speak to him to let him know what she usually likes, not once did I hear her say she was going to get someone else; as we were led to believe in the boardroom from Annie.
I feel David was VERY UNPROFESSIONAL to walk out on BOTH Annie & Joan; if he had a problem with Joan he should have left her. I did not root for Annie but do not think she should have paid for this.
I agree. He had a hissy fit & I’ve lost respect for him..
Not sure if I will watch any more of his wedding shows.
I agree with Kathy. Joan deserved to win. If Joan was so bad, why did he bow out on Annie? Annie has been bossy and delusional since day one. Don’t be surprised if Trump uses Annie as the new “Celebrity Omarosa”.
joan deserved to win! she won in 3 out of 5 catagories. annie was a pain in the ass.
I think David quit because of David! Joan asked for red, yellow, and white and she did not want the chairs he chose for the gathering. I never heard of him before Celebrity Apprentice and I wrote on his facebook wall that he should have completed the task regardless of Joan.
I like Joan, she’s a 75-year-old gal and I think people should be more patient.